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Charles Russell Lowell
|died= |placeofbirth= Boston, Massachusetts |placeofdeath= Middletown, Virginia |placeofburial= Cambridge, Massachusetts |placeofburial_label= Place of burial |image= |caption= Charles Russell Lowell |allegiance= United States of America Union |branch=Union Army |serviceyears= |rank= Brigadier General |commands= |unit= |battles= American Civil War * Peninsula Campaign * Battle of Antietam * Battle of Cedar Creek |awards= |laterwork= }} Charles Russell Lowell, Jr. (January 2, 1835 – October 20, 1864) was a railroad executive, foundryman, and general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was mortally wounded at the Battle of Cedar Creek and was mourned by a number of leading generals. Early life Lowell was born in Boston, Massachusetts. His mother, Anna Cabot Jackson Lowell (1811–1874), a daughter of Patrick Tracy Jackson, married Charles Russell Lowell, Jr., the eldest son of Unitarian Minister, Charles Russell Lowell, Sr. and brother of James Russell Lowell. She wrote verse and books on education. Lowell graduated as the valedictorian from Harvard College in 1854, and worked in an iron mill in Trenton, New Jersey, for a few months in 1855. He spent two years abroad, and from 1858 to 1860 was local treasurer of the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad. In 1860, he took charge of the Mount Savage Iron Works in Cumberland, Maryland. Civil War Lowell entered the Union Army in June 1861, and was commissioned as a captain in the 3rd U.S. Cavalry, transferring to the 6th U.S. Cavalry in August. He served as an aide-de-camp to Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan during the formation of the Army of the Potomac in the summer and fall of 1861 and continued at McClellan's side during the 1862 Peninsula Campaign and the Battle of Antietam.Warner, pp. 284-85. In 1863 Lowell recruited and organized the 2nd Massachusetts Cavalry, and on May 10 was appointed its colonel.Eicher, p. 355. During the winter of 1863–64, he was in charge of the outer defenses of Washington, D.C., and was engaged in repelling the raid by Confederate Lt. Gen. Jubal Early that reached the outskirts of the capital. During the Valley Campaigns of 1864, Lowell commanded a brigade of cavalry in Brig. Gen. Wesley Merritt's division of the Cavalry Corps of Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan's army. He distinguished himself at Third Winchester and took a leading role in the Confederate rout at Tom's Brook. He was mortally wounded during the Union counterattack at the Battle of Cedar Creek on October 19, 1864. general Sheridan interceded to ensure that he was promoted to brigadier general on that day. He died on the next day at Middletown, Virginia, at the age of 29. He is buried in the Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Lowell was nominated as a brigadier general two days after his death. Since he was unable to sign his new commission after his death, Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton authorized an exception allowing the posthumous promotion to become official.Bundy, p. 478. Upon hearing of his death, Brig. Gen. George Armstrong Custer wept and Sheridan remarked "I do not think there was a quality which I could have added to Lowell. He was the perfection of a man and a soldier."Bundy, p. 501. ]] In October 1863, Lowell had married Josephine Shaw (1843–1905), a sister of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, one of his close friends. Her home when she was married was on Staten Island, and she became deeply interested in the social problems of New York City. She was a member of the State Charities Aid Society, and from 1867 to 1889 was a member of the New York State Board of Charities, being the first woman appointed to that board. She founded the Charity Organization Society of New York City in 1882, and wrote Public Relief and Private Charity (1884) and Industrial Arbitration and Conciliation (1893). See also *List of American Civil War generals *List of Massachusetts generals in the American Civil War Notes References * Bundy, Carol, The Nature of Sacrifice: A Biography of Charles Russell Lowell, Jr., 1835–64, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005, ISBN 0-374-12077-3. * Eicher, John H., and Eicher, David J., Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3. * Emerson, Edward E. (ed.), The Life and Letters of Charles Russell Lowell (Boston, 1907). * Warner, Ezra J., Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders, Louisiana State University Press, 1964, ISBN 0-8071-0822-7. * External links *Carol Bundy speaks with Thoughtcast about her biography of Lowell, her great-great-great uncle * Retrieved on 2008-11-23 Category:1835 births Category:1864 deaths Category:Harvard University alumni Category:People of Massachusetts in the American Civil War Category:People from Boston, Massachusetts Category:Union Army generals Category:Foundrymen Category:American military personnel killed in the American Civil War